Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Reconstituting and Characterizing Actin-Microtubule Composites with Tunable Motor-Driven Dynamics and Mechanics
Published on: August 25, 2022
Effects of asymmetric nanostructures on the extinction difference properties of actin biomolecules and filaments
E H Khoo1, Eunice S P Leong2, S J Wu2
1Institute of High Performance Computing, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 1 Fusionopolis Way, #16-16 Connexis, Singapore 138632, Singapore.
Abstract:
In this paper, symmetric and asymmetric tapering on the arms of the gammadion nanostructure is proposed to enhance both local field distribution and extinction difference (ED). The asymmetric tapered gammadion with tapering fraction (TF) of 0.67 is seen to have the largest ED and spatial local field distribution, producing a large wavelength shift of more than 50 percent as compared to the untapered gammadion nanostructures when immersed in a solution of actin molecules and filaments. The optical chirality, ζ shows that the larger local field amplitudes produced by the asymmetric designs increases the rate of chiral molecules excitation. This enhanced field is strongly rotating and highly sensitive to single molecules and larger filaments. Here, we show that the ED, optical chirality, sensitivity and rate of chiral molecules excitation can be improved by incorporating asymmetric designs into chiral gammadion nanostructures through tapering.
Related Concept Videos
Generation of Straight or Branched Actin Filaments
Arp2/3 Complex
Arp2/3 complex is a seven-subunit complex consisting of two proteins similar to actin- Arp2 and Arp3, and five other subunits that help keep Arp2 and Arp3 inactive. When required, the complex is...
Actin Filament Depolymerization
In F-actin, the ADF/cofilin proteins...
Studying the Cytoskeleton
Introduction to Actin
Formation of Higher-order Actin Filaments
The high-order actin...
Polarity of the Cytoskeleton

